Jupiter and its moons

Introduction

The core of this unit is Chapter 9 of Teach Yourself Planets, by David Rothery, which is found in Section 1 of this unit page by page, followed by a guided discussion and questions in Sections 2 through 4. Note that all references in Chapter 9 of Teach Yourself Planets to other chapters, are to other chapters of Teach Yourself Planets – these references are not to other sections of this unit.

Jupiter is the first of the giant planets and has a large family of satellites. Four of these are much more substantial than any asteroid and can justifiably be regarded as worlds in their own rights.

This unit is from our archive and is an adapted extract from Planets: an introduction (S196) which is no longer taught by The Open University. If you want to study formally with us, you may wish to explore other courses we offer in this subject area [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] .